On June 14th, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis S. Collins will join CF Foundation President and CEO Dr. Bob Beall and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Chairman and CEO Matthew Emmens on Capitol Hill for a roundtable discussion with Members of the House of Representatives to discuss new research initiatives NIH is using to accelerate the development of therapies. The speakers will also highlight how the successful partnership between the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals on VX-770 can serve as an example for federal government programs. We need as many Representatives as possible attend this event to enable the CF Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals to increase awareness about cystic fibrosis and share how our successes can be replicated by NIH to help those with other illnesses.
Please call your state’s Representatives today and ask them to attend. Attached, you will find a list of Representatives who are being targeted in particular (along with their DC office phone numbers), but please feel free to contact as many of your state’s Representatives as you can. Contact information for all of your state’s Representatives is available through http://www.cff.org/
Below, you will find the information you will need for your calls:
· Talking points
· Event details
· An additional copy of the target list
If the Representative’s office would like more information, you can send them the attached flyer announcing the briefing, or tell them to contact Stephanie Krenrich in the Public Policy Department at (301) 907-2512 or skrenrich@cff.org. If you need more information, you should contact Stephanie as well.
With your help, we will make this an event to remember.
The past few decades have brought exciting scientific breakthroughs necessary to understand,
diagnose, and treat many diseases. However, the ability to translate exciting advancements into treatments that can help patients severely lags behind the pace of innovation. On average, it takes 15 years to turn a scientific discovery into a viable therapy. For the millions of Americans who live with chronic and fatal diseases, this is simply too long to wait.
TALKING POINTS
When you call, please ask for the Representative’s legislative assistant for healthcare issues. When you are connected either to the individual or their voicemail, please use these talking points as a guide:
1) As a constituent personally affected by cystic fibrosis, I wanted to invite [Representative x] to a briefing hosted by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals with Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, on Tuesday, June 14th at 9am in room 2218 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
2) Dr. Collins will discuss “translational science” programs at NIH, which aid the translation of basic medical research into new treatments for patients
3) These initiatives have the potential to speed the development of much-needed medications for some of our most serious illnesses
4) Speakers will also discuss the successful partnership between the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals on new cystic fibrosis therapies as an example of how strategies NIH uses have been successful in the private and non-profit sectors
5) Would you like me to email you some more information? [If yes, ask for email address and follow up with the attached briefing announcement]
-or-
Please call Stephanie Krenrich at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at 301- 907-2512 for more information.
6) This briefing promises to be a constructive discussion on the best way to spur the development of new treatments for disease, and we hope that Representative x will attend. Thank you for your consideration.
EVENT DETAILS
Roundtable Discussion with NIH Director Francis S. Collins: Leveraging Federal Investment to Speed the Development of Promising Therapies for Patients
WHEN: Tuesday, June 14, 2011
9:00 am – 10:00 am
WHERE: 2218 Rayburn House Office Building
SPEAKERS:
· Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institutes of Health
· The Honorable Brian Bilbray, Edward Markey, and Cliff Stearns, Members of Congress
· Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
· Matthew Emmens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals
· Eric Olson, Ph.D., Vice President, Cystic Fibrosis Franchise Lead, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
INVITEES: Representatives (plus 1 staff)
TOPIC: NIH’s translational science programs, including NIH’s proposed National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), which have the potential to accelerate the development of much-needed treatments for some of our most serious illnesses. In addition, the event will feature the successful collaboration between the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals on promising new cystic fibrosis therapies, as an example of how the strategies to be employed by NCATS have been successful in similar situations in the private and non-profit sectors.
TARGET LIST
Alaska: Representative Don Young (R-AK-AL)
Arizona: Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ-1)
California: Representative Mary Bono Mack (R-CA-45) (202) 225-5330
Representative Lois Capps (D-CA-23)
Representative Susan Davis (D-CA-53)
Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA-25) (202) 225-1956
Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-34) (202) 225-1766
Colorado: Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO-1)
Connecticut: Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3)
Florida: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-21) (202) 225-4211
Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL-20) (202) 225-7931
Representative C.W. Bill Young (R-FL-10) (202) 225-5961
Georgia: Representative Paul Broun (R-GA-10)
Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA-11)
Representative Tom Price (R-GA-6)
Idaho: Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID-2)
Indiana: Representative Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8)
Louisiana: Representative Bill Cassidy (R-LA-6)
Representative John Fleming (R-LA-4)
Maryland: Representative Andy Harris (R-MD-1)
Massachusetts: Representative Mike Capuano (D-MA-8)
Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA-3)
Michigan: Representative Fred Upton (R-MI-6)
Representative John Dingell (D-MI-15)
Representative Dan Benishek (R-MI-1)
Representative Sander Levin (D-MI-12)
Minnesota: Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN-4) (202) 225-6631
Montana: Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT-AL)
New Jersey: Representative Leonard Lance (R-NJ-7) (202) 225-5361
Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6)
Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ-12)
Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ-8)
Nevada: Representative Joe Heck (R-NV-3)
New York: Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY-17)
Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY-18)
Representative Nan Hayworth (R-NY-19)
Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY-7)
North Carolina: Representative Sue Myrick (R-NC-9)
Pennsylvania: Representative Tom Marino (R-PA-10)
Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA-18)
Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA-16) (202) 225-2411
Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA-15)
Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-PA-13)
Tennessee: Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7)
Representative Phil Roe (R-TN-1)
Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4)
Texas: Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX-26)
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX-14)
Washington: Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA-6)
Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA-8)
Wisconsin: Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-2)
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